Latest news with #Kishtwar
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
At least 337 killed in Pakistan floods, gov't defends emergency response
Climate change-induced flash floods have killed at least 337 people in northwestern Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, while dozens remain missing after the area was hit by flash floods in recent days. In Kishtwar district, emergency teams continued rescue efforts on Sunday in the remote village of Chositi. At least 60 were killed and some 150 injured, about 50 of them critically. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency service, said 54 bodies were found after hours-long efforts in Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday. Suhail said several villagers remained missing. Search efforts focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying massive boulders that smashed into houses like explosions. Cloudbursts also caused devastation in Indian-administered Kashmir. Flash floods were reported in two villages in the Kathua district, killing at least seven people and injuring five others overnight, officials said. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600. Government criticism Angry residents in Buner accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas. Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, told the Associated Press that the lack of a timely warning system caused casualties and forced many to flee their homes at the last moment. 'Survivors escaped with nothing,' he said. 'If people had been informed earlier, lives could have been saved and residents could have moved to safer places.' The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted. Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told a news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change. Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50 percent more rainfall than in the same period last year, he added. He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month. Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said there was 'no forecasting system anywhere in the world' that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst. Idrees Mahsud, a disaster management official, said Pakistan's early warning system used satellite imagery and meteorological data to send alerts to local authorities. These were shared through the media and community leaders. He said monsoon rains that once only swelled rivers now also triggered urban flooding. Pakistan suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged northwest, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks. Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia. While Pakistan is estimated to produce less than one percent of planet-warming emissions, it faces heatwaves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods, and cloudbursts that devastate local communities within hours.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
At least 360 dead, 150 missing in Pakistan-India floods
Flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more than 360 people in Pakistan and India and led to severe devastation across the South Asian region. Advertisement At least 307 people have died and 23 have been injured in Pakistan, according to the latest details from the nation's National Disaster Management Authority. Meanwhile, around 60 people were killed and more than 60 were missing in India's northernmost region of Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told reporters Saturday. Local police and other agencies were conducting search and rescue operations in the region of Kishtwar in India, about 200km from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Onlookers gather near a destroyed bridge after flash floods on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Photo: TNS Authorities were continuing to search for scores of people still buried under the debris. Advertisement Pakistan authorities have warned that landslides are likely to increase further in the country's northern regions in the event of more rain.
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
At least 12 feared dead after heavy rain in Indian Kashmir
Local TV channels said the flood water had washed away community kitchens set up for pilgrims. (AP pic) SRINAGAR : At least 12 people were feared dead and more trapped following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir, an official said today. The disaster occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a pit stop on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. 'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving,' Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. Visuals on television showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. Local TV channels said the flood water had washed away community kitchens set up for pilgrims. A cloudburst, according to the Indian meteorological department, is a sudden, intense downpour of over 100mm of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides, and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Kishtwar: Grief and chaos after flash floods in Kashmir
At least 60 people have been killed and dozens are still missing after flash floods hit a village hosting Hindu pilgrims in Indian-administered than 100 people have been injured, said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah while addressing an Independence Day function in capital Thursday, water mixed with debris and mud came gushing down a hill in Chositi village in Kishtwar district - a remote village on a busy pilgrimage route to a Himalayan operations are continuing as officials intensify efforts to pull out survivors from the mud and rubble. Officials say the flooding was likely triggered by a cloudburst, though India's meteorological department is yet to confirm pilgrims were in the area to visit the shrine of Machail Mata, a manifestation of Goddess Durga. Chositi is the last point accessible by vehicles, making it a common stop for pilgrims before they start the uphill journey on foot or return to their survivors are being treated for injuries at the district hospital in Kishtwar. Among them is Putul Devi, who sits silently on a metal hospital bed, her face blank, a relative by her side."Our family had come for the pilgrimage. We had completed the darshan [visit] - and then, suddenly there was a blast-like sound and what followed was complete chaos," she told news agency ANI."We could not understand anything. Everyone just started running."Ms Devi was travelling with 13 members of her family. So far, she has been reunited with only two. The rest, including her husband and three children, are missing. A senior official from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told news agency ANI that the rescue team has only one earth mover (commonly referred to as a JCB) at the site."When the JCB digs, we remove the victims buried above. Then we will try to find those buried below. We were told that at least 100–200 people could still be trapped," he told at the hospital, Sanjay Kumar recounts that he was helping serve lunch at a community kitchen when the floods struck. He said about 200–250 people were eating inside the building. "I was distributing rotis when I heard a loud noise," he recalled."There's a drain next to the kitchen and it instantly began filling with sludge. I told everyone to run. We had no time, not even a minute."At one point, Mr Kumar said, he was trapped under debris. His son was close by and he held onto him tightly. Soon, the soldiers and police officers deployed for the shrine's security pulled them out. "Thankfully, almost everyone there was saved," he another hospital ward, a weeping man clutched a phone which had a photograph of his missing daughter."We had no idea something like this would happen. The sky was clear - there were even moments of sunshine - and within a minute, it all came crashing down," he said through tears."I just want my daughter. Please find my daughter. I don't want anything else."Parts of northern India have seen very heavy rainfall in recent days, causing flash floods in several week, a massive flood hit the village of Dharali in Uttarakhand, submerging nearly half of it. On Tuesday, officials said 66 people were still missing and only one body had been BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Times of Oman
5 days ago
- Climate
- Times of Oman
J-K Kishtwar cloudburst: Death toll rises to 45, over 100 injured; rescue ops on
Kishtwar: The death toll from the massive cloudburst that triggered a flash flood in the Chesoti area of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, has risen to 45, with more than 100 people injured, officials said on Friday. Kishtwar Additional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Singh told ANI that rescue operations are underway with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, SDRF, Fire Services, CISF, CRPF and the Army on the ground. "45 have been confirmed dead, while over 100 injured have been shifted (for treatment). Many people are still feared missing. We will update as more missing people or dead bodies are found... Ambulance and local people are also working shoulder to shoulder with the police for the rescue operation... 8-10 of the deceased people were identified, and the identification process is going on..." he said. The cloudburst occurred on Thursday in Chesoti village of Paddar along the Machail Mata Yatra route, which had drawn a large number of devotees. In view of the weather conditions and the disaster, Kishtwar Police has set up control rooms and help desks across the district to assist citizens and pilgrims, particularly in remote areas. Families of missing persons have been asked to contact -- District Control Room -- 01995-259555, 9484217492 PCR Kishtwar -- 9906154100, 9103454100, 01995-259193, 100. "Rescue operations continue in Chesoti, Tehsil Atholi, District Kishtwar. *DGP J&K Police Sh. Nalin Prabhat-IPS* is personally monitoring the situation on the ground," District Police Kishtwar wrote in a post on X, also sharing a list of rescued and injured persons as of August 14. J&K Leader of Opposition and local MLA Sunil Kumar Sharma said the incident occurred around 11 a.m. "There was a huge rush here as devotees in large numbers participated in the Machail Mata Yatra. There has been a huge loss...42 bodies have been is a very big disaster...I am hopeful that tomorrow, if the weather allows, rescue operations will be carried out through helicopter services..." he said. Medical Superintendent of District Hospital Kishtwar, Dr Yudhvir Singh Kotwal, said the hospital had received 88 patients so far, with 36 referred to GMC Jammu. "We are awaiting identification for two dead bodies which were brought to the hospital..." he added. One of the injured, Vishal Mehra, who had come from Jammu for the yatra, described the chaos, "We were returning after the darshan and had stopped at Chesoti. A part of our group was a little behind. We were having tea, and as soon as we finished, Army personnel told us to run from there. We rushed, but we got trapped in the debris." "My sister and nephew are missing. There has been a massive felt like a sudden blast, and we could not act in time," he said. "When the cloud burst, we were flown away and I was stuck under a car... My mother was under an electricity pole... Administration took quick action, and the vehicles of the army and the CRPF arrived immediately..." Another victim said.
